Best golf courses near Worcester, MA

Massachusetts is ground zero for Donald Ross-designed courses (there have been over 50 nine- and 18-hole courses through the years), and Worcester is considered one of his best, the second highest ranked Ross in the state. The course opened in 1914 and hosted the 1925 U.S. Open, won by Willie MacFarlane, who beat Bobby Jones in a 36-hole playoff. It was also the site of the inaugural Ryder Cup two years later, in 1927, as well as the 1960 U.S. Women’s Open. The holes are routed over two distinct sections of the club’s property, each parcel roomy enough to let the holes spool out and breathe as they traverse lovely elevations and meadows of native grass. Over the past few years, architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner and their team have fine-tuned the design, paying close attention to the approaches of the greens and capturing lost edges and corners of the putting surfaces. They also cleared out some unnecessary trees, enlarged bunkers, and restored several bunkers that had been lost over the decades. Worcester’s naturally flowing holes didn’t need much work, but what has been done over has made the course stronger, more vivid, and more adamantly Ross.

The Pines Course at this complex west of Boston was a novelty when it opened in the late 1950s because it measured over 8,000 yards, the longest course in the country. As part of their reconstruction in 2024 under new ownership, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw whittled over 1,000 yards off the scorecard and completely rerouted the design. What’s novel about the Pines now is a set of intensely contoured greens, some of the most severe in the Coore/Crenshaw portfolio, a few of them borderline outrageous. The 12th hole, by contrast, is refined. The wide dogleg pivots right through pines and drives that don’t hug the inside line will scamper left off a hogsback out of position. The hole feels as British (London, that is) as anything you’ll find in New England with the fairway sliding smoothly into a low green rippled at the edges and set in a heathland-like clearing of short grass, a lone fescue-covered hummock providing a light touch of strategic intrigue. Like a good links, the hole can be played in different ways and is unlikely to inflict serious damage to the score, but a four here requires strong driving and short game finesse. Bold and brash can be fun, but the confidence to be calm and speak softly is sometimes a golf hole’s most appealing quality.

Architect Tripp Davis says this property outside of Boston, with its forested ambiance and rocky, rollercoaster terrain, demanded a more rugged look. That’s what he and shaper Jason Gold gave it, creating expanses of exposed sand and native grasses and bunker edges that look chewed upon. They also added width to the holes, expanded greens and moved tees to make for more meaningful shot options. The Oaks hosted a LIV Golf Invitational Series in 2022.

Donald Ross’ routing makes good use of some interesting contouring while also offering nice views of Mount Wachusett and the nearby reservoir. About 45 minutes west of Boston, Wachusett Country Club actually sits closer to the borders of Connecticut and Rhode Island than Boston. It’s still worth considering this fourth-generation, privately owned public course in your Boston itineraries.

The North course, host of the 1995 U.S. Amateur Public Links, was designed by Geoffrey Cornish and offers a nice variety of holes. The facility has a South course as well, but one of our panelists reports that the conditions are a little spotty compared to the North and the layout is inferior.